One and Three
by Moonsetta
Summary: They still wonder, if he wasn't their brother, how did he get into their nest when they were hatchlings? Sequel to Old and Young.
1. Chapter 1

I'm back people and with that sequel to "Old and Young" just like I promised. I'm sorry I didn't post it before, but "A New Start" has kept me so busy. So, let's get started.

*Note: You must read "Old and Young" to understand this story.

And I know I've got a lot of updates to get done.

Readers who want me to update "A New Start: GLARE

Readers who want me to update "It's Not OK": DOUBLE GLARE

I don't own the turtles.

* * *

All in a moment, he felt the feeling return to his limbs as his eyes refused to open to the annoying light coming from outside. He swung his arm up in a jerk-like manner until it reached his eyes and rubbed away at the numb feeling circulating through them as well. Bones cracked a bit as the green figure swung his body up and out of the hammock he called a bed, before glaring at the invading light, that glared back right outside his room. He then glanced towards his beaten up, digital clock on his bedside table.

A time of 6:00am stared back at him.

"Who the shell is up," he muttered, getting up and walking towards the doorway that separated his room from the rest of his family's home.

What he was really thinking though was how he was going to pound whoever it was for turning on all those eye burning lights at freaking six AM!

The answer to this mystery though, turned out to be both his little brothers, both wide awake, and in the kitchen. Donny was standing by the coffee pot with a huge smile while Mikey was humming away as he cooked breakfast. And just like that, Raphael's anger melted away as his confusion rose.

"What are you two doing up?" Raph asked, trying to compose a glare on his face but ultimately gave it up when both the younger turtles turned and beamed at him.

"Why the shell are you two so happy?" Raph said as he fetched a long needed supply of sugar from the fridge in the form of an energy drink.

"Because," Mikey sang, "It's August 28th!"

Raph would've spewed out the energy drink if any would have been in his mouth at that moment but thankfully he had sat down just in time to absorb the surprise.

"No way," he smirked.

"WAY!" Mikey sang as Donny shook his head while pouring his coffee, amazingly having the ability to do so without opening his eyes.

Raph's smirk melted into a relaxed and uncharacteristic-like smile.

Donny chuckled and walked over to sit down by his older brother, "Today's going to be awesome."

"You're telling me dude!" Mikey said.

Raph and Donny shared smiles at Mikey's exuberance.

Just then, a footstep echoed into the kitchen and all them turned to stare at the blue masked leader as he walked into the room.

"Morning Fearless," Raph said with a pride filled smirk.

Leo just smiled affectionately and headed for the tea pot on the stove.

Yep, it was definitely August 28th.

* * *

So, questions?

What's so significant about the 28th of August? Let me hear your thoughts. One-shot gift to anyone who can guess it. Although, I don't think anyone will.

And if you've read "Old and Young" I know you have questions from that story too. Well, I'll try to update as soon as I can post the next chapter of "A New Start". As for "It's Not OK," I probably won't be working on it until these two stories are finished.

Anyways, please review? I will update tomorrow if I get a lot.

~Moonsetta


	2. Chapter 2

Ok, ALL very good guesses. I assure you, they are excellent estimations, unfortunately they're all wrong. Ok, maybe I should've had you guess after this chapter because you get a hint.

Oh and Truth Seeker, I'm sorry but these chapters are designed to be short. I'm not here to look professional or win a popularity contest, it's all just too close to politics for me. I despise politics! -_- We're not taught history anymore in school, we're taught to choose a political party. If I could I'd drop my course, but it's required. -_-

Whew, I need to stop before I rant for two pages.

I've tried hypnotizing myself but still don't believe that I own the ninja turtles.

* * *

Leo sipped his green tea silently while looking over the newspaper on the table. They usually found one covering the day's news hanging from one of the sewer vents that lead to the above world or one abandoned in a desolate alley somewhere. They were easy enough to find. For tonight, they predicted scattered thunderstorms but a very miniscule amount of precipitation. If there was rain, there wouldn't be much.

"Hey Leo?" a voice from across the table asked.

"Yes Michelangelo?" Leo asked in return.

"Can we go get ice cream after patrol tonight?"

"I don't think a patrol tonight would be the best idea, I'm pretty sure there's going to be an electric storm."

"Please? Just a triple dipped cone from Marty's please?"

Leo tried to look away as Mikey's eyes widened, but he couldn't. It was just those, begging, baby brother eyes. Where did he get that power from!

Leo opened his mouth to respond and then closed it as something hit his mind…memories.

_

* * *

_

He glanced over as the final turtle pushed his way out of his egg. And although his animal instincts wouldn't allow him to laugh he did feel something amusing about seeing the youngest turtle break out of his egg and end up on his shell. The smallest turtle glanced up at him and appeared to blink, his eyes wide with an innocent curiosity.

* * *

Leo shook away the memory and then let a smile cross his face and he nodded his consent which made Mikey clap in delight, "Awesome dude!"

The clap, brought back another memory…

_

* * *

_

He looked into the face and raised his head up to beacon to the other turtle. The blue-green skinned turtle stood a few inches away from him, that distance seemed like miles to the baby turtles though so the cry that escaped his lips, either wasn't caught or was ignored by the other turtle. The blue-green skinned turtle looked at the glass wall that surrounded their tiny world and then laid down to rest from all his walking he had done earlier.

* * *

After making up their plans for the day and then enjoying a delicious breakfast, the turtles split up to find ways to entertain themselves for the next half an hour before their morning practice began. Mikey dove for the TV and video games possessively before anyone else could grab them, Donny jetted into his lab to continue his progress on a new program he was developing and Raphael, a smirk on his face, headed strait for the dojo. No doubt Leo would already be there, getting a head start on everything. To the red banded turtle's surprise though, Leo was standing outside the door to the dojo, looking at the newspaper again. Glancing at the direction of Leo's gaze, he was staring at the top of the page, where the date was.

"Hey bro, you ok?"

Leo jerked back from the shock of the voice and then breathed a sigh of relief when he found it was just his younger brother. Raph laughed at the jerk causing his older brother to glare at him for a moment before he looked back down at the paper. Raph's normal smirk fell into a frown.

"Something up?" Raph asked.

"No, everything's ok," Leo said.

Raph might have questioned this more but then he just shrugged his shoulders. It was August 28th, this was not a day to be upset. This had to be the best day of the year! He ignored the cautious glances Leo was still throwing at him and the paper before walking around his blue banded brother and stepping inside the dojo. Finally, he had been neglecting his punching bag for some time now.

Back outside Leo shook his and sighed heavily, letting his face to fall to a look of sorrow as he glanced back at the date stomped on top of the newspaper. No wonder he had those memories and no wonder he had given into Mikey's pleas so easily. He heard the pounding of fists against sand and leather, the sound letting him know that his immediate younger brother was already ahead in training, shouts from the living room proved Mikey was losing to some opponent on his video game and constant typing revealed that the family genius was hard at work.

It was August 28th.

Leo walked over to a large box that was near Don's door, why he always wanted them to save the newspaper, they didn't know, but they didn't argue.

The blue masked turtle glanced at the date once more as he dropped the paper in with the others.

…

…

…

…

…

If anyone had watched him closely, they would've noticed the lone tear that fell from his eye and landed on the paper below.

* * *

Ok, does everyone get the hint?

Raph, Donny and Mikey love the day, why?

This day though, apparently holds some kind of sorrow for Leo.

So what could it be?

Remember from the first story that technically, Leo isn't their brother and somehow-

I think I'll stop there, if I said anymore I'd just give it away.

Please review! And keep guessing, the one-shot gift is still up!

~Moonsetta


	3. Chapter 3

Ok, everyone stop guessing. Someone has guessed half of it right, actually a few people have. I'm sorry I can't really give half credit, so no one-shot gifts. Sorry! T_T

Anyways, the only thing I can reward you with is an update. Oh and people near enough for this to be the time, and I don't care how many people in my country tell me I can't say this.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

This morning I looked under the tree ^_^

But there were no turtles to see. T_T

* * *

"Hey Leo?" Don asked.

The blue masked leader glanced up from the book he was reading to stare up at his brother.

"Um, do you mind if I borrow a few of your books? I'll just be in your room for a few minutes."

Normally, the eldest NEVER let them in his room, Mikey had a tendency to shuffle through everything he owned, Don always poured through the books he kept and eyed the tapestry and pictures that covered the wall. Strangely, it was Raphael who never really bothered anything, the few times the hothead had went into Leo's room was during those rare few times when the eldest was sick or injured. The second eldest was always willing to lend a hand.

Leo tried to say no, but he couldn't bring his lips to form the simple, two letter word. Instead he breathed a shaky sigh and nodded his consent. As Donatello turned away Leo scrunched his eyes together tightly and let a smile cross his face.

_

* * *

_

He glanced down as the younger turtle beside him curled up and pressed into his side affectionately. He allowed himself to breath as the light above danced along the glass and over the group that lay in comforting togetherness. The olive skinned turtle glanced up once, his eyes betraying fear as he met his eyes.

_Then the older turtle allowed his eyes to speak back. Brotherly affection. Protection. No fear. _

* * *

The smile stayed on Leo's face until a shadow veiled over his thoughts,

_

* * *

_

He felt weight on his head and glanced up as the weight fell away. The scrapping of tiny claws against his shell had him pressed against the world's glass wall. It all ended here and there wasn't escape from the olive skinned being as he walked forward. His eyes held a knowledge that all of the being's own species would recognize as un-turtle-like. This knowledge held a power. Power that he pressed on those around him.

* * *

Leo shook away his thoughts. No, that wasn't it.

"Stop thinking about it," he cursed under his breath.

"Stop thinking about what?" a new voice said, making Leo jump in his seat.

When a deep chuckle followed he frowned and his eyes drooped, "Can I help you Raphael?"

The red masked, turtle, confused look in place, walked around and stared down at his blue masked brother, a certain curiosity in his eyes. True, it had been months since the tests had been completed and they had all found out the truth about their family relations. Finding out that Leo wasn't genetically related to any of them had been shocking at first. They had all agreed that they were brothers no matter what, but the truth hit something deep in them and after Don had told them that the pet shop they had come from only received their reptiles via nests from a research facility, it brought up the interesting question:

If Leo wasn't their brother, then how did he get into their nest?

Shaking away his curiosity for the moment, Raph smirked as he leaned again the arm of the couch that Leo was sitting on, "So, sunset's coming early tonight. So I was thinking about heading out early tonight with Casey, the Purple Dragons have been getting rowdy lately."

Leo opened his mouth to protest but the words fell into early graves before they could climb up his throat. He decided not to fight it, if he did, he'd only remember.

"Alright, just be careful."

Grinning, Raphael went strait to the garage. It still would be a few hours before he could leave the lair but that gave him time to work on his bike. As he set to work on the shell cycle, he allowed his mind to drift back to its previous thoughts. All those months ago they had also, with Master Splinter's help, recovered their lost memories they previously had as normal turtles before their mutation. He had seen Mikey's and Donny's memories but Leo's still remained a mystery. True, he had been a little well, irritated since Leo had refused to share those memories. But of course, it was August 28th, if there was one day Leo would let anything spill, it would be today.

He made a note to himself to return home earlier than usual, the past few years he had simply taken a night prowl on the streets until said night was over, but tonight, would be different.

* * *

Alright, well that's chapter 3. There's only three chapters left, so make sure to review.

~Moonsetta


	4. Chapter 4

Happy New Years Everyone!

Here's my gift to you!

* * *

"Uh, should I ask?" Raph inquired, glancing around at the flour covered kitchen where Mikey was bent over the stove.

"Don't," Don said with a cough, as he stepped away from the wall, the spot he was previously leaning against clear of the white powder.

"Hey Raph," Mikey said, turning to face his red banded brother then grew confused when his eyes landed on the clock.

"Hey Donny?" he asked.

"Hmm?"

"Is the microwave showing the right time?"

"Yeah, I just set it-wait a minute. It's only 9:30. Raph, why are you already home?"

The hotheaded shrugged, "The streets were quiet. Any and all punks are bound or jailed."

"Guys, I'm heading out now!" a voice yelled from the main room.

"Don't bother, Raph just came in!"

"What?"

With that the blue banded turtle stepped into the kitchen, his eyes widening at the sight of his hotheaded brother standing next to the microwave. He had to turn his head and make sure Donny and Mikey were actually there, in case one them decided to play a trick on him by posing as Raph.

"You're back early," Leo said, then narrowed his eyes in poking curiosity.

Raph threw up his hands in mock surrender, then smirked, "What? I can't come home early to be with my kind, thoughtful, loving family?"

"Who are you and what have you done with my hotheaded little brother?" Leo said, earning soft chuckles from Donny and Mikey.

Raph rolled his eyes then turned his head towards the microwave door as it opened to find Mikey jamming three bags of popcorn in it.

"Oh no you don't, not again Mikey," Don said, snatching the bags away.

"I only set the popcorn on fire once!" Mikey protested, crossing his arms while he pouted.

"And I'm not in the mood to scrape the microwave off of the ceiling again."

"It could've happened to anyone!"

Leo shook his head and walked out of the kitchen, the hotheaded turtle right behind him.

"And where are YOU going?" Raph asked.

"Just for a run," Leo answered, his hand on the door.

"You better be back by 10:00, Mikey's been talking about 'Movie Night' all day."

"I won't be long," Leo said and if there was ever a smile that just displayed affection, it the smile the leader was wearing.

"Wait up," Raph said.

"Raph, I'm just-"

"No solo training runs across the city anymore, I thought we had that cleared up."

Leo closed his eyes as he opened the front door blindly, "I'm sticking to the sewers, don't worry."

"Fine. But Leo?"

The leader froze after he took a step out the door, "Yes?"

"I want to talk to you when you get back."

The blue masked turtle hesitated, gulped silently and then nodded before stepping out into the sewers and closing the door behind him.

The red banded turtle waited for an unusual duration of 12 minutes before slipping outside into the sewers as well, he made sure the tunnels were clear before taking out his shellcell and bringing up the tracker. He gave a silent thanks to Don and then ran off to catch up to his older brother. As he ran he thought back to all those months ago, finding out their true ages, discovering that Leo wasn't related to them and then the blue banded turtle refusing to share his memories.

It was a short few minutes later that the red banded turtle reached an old, debris filled, broken down tunnel. He glanced down at his shellcell, the tracker indicating that Leo was in the tunnel. He slipped the phone back into his belt and took a step into the tunnel.

That's when a drop water fell onto his face. He reached up to wipe it away only to freeze in shock. The drop was warm and the air was filled with a copper-like scent.

Another drop.

Warm.

Blood?

There was a creaking, a snap and then a sharp blade sunk into Raphael's shoulder.

To Be Continued…

* * *

DUN DUN DUN DAHHHHHH!

Did you like it? Did you like it?

Alright, before anyone rips my head off-I'll update tomorrow, well, later today I guess, since it's after midnight.

Please review? There's two chapters left and the next one will be long and fulfilling, I promise.

~Moonsetta


	5. Chapter 5

Hey everybody, well they canceled my classes today because of the weather so I thought I would take today to type this chapter up.

*Looks under hammock* No turtles! T_T

* * *

"Raph?"

The red banded turtle glanced up as footsteps quickly shuffled towards him. Then, a light came on, illuminating the end of the tunnel and before the red masked turtle, stood Leo, his worried eyes going to the scratched shoulder of his little brother. He immediately set down the candle he was using on top of a dry stone and away from the dripping walls before he bent down.

"What that shell was that?" Raph said and then cursed when Leo placed a hand on his shoulder.

At his flinch Leo retreated and peered down at the wound, "Well, you aren't bleeding but I know skin wounds hurt the worst."

"Ain't that true," Raph said as his eyes scanned the ground until they landed on what had cut him, a broken pipe.

Leo caught the sight of the pipe and smiled ruefully, "You get scratched by a broken pipe and scream bloody murder."

"I didn't scream Fearless!"

"And what is it you're doing now?"

"You, duh-forget it, I give Fearless, whatever."

Leo laughed softly and then stood up, holding out a hand to his younger brother, "I suppose you followed me for a good reason."

"Maybe," Raph said unemotionally.

Leo shook his head before bending down to pick up his candle.

"They came up with a new invention you know Leo, it's called a flashlight."

"They also created three menaces of society and forced me to live with them," Leo said with a sideways smile.

"What the shell does that mean?"

"My last flashlight was torn up when Mikey used it for his late night puppet show, Don took the batteries out for an invention and you chucked it at the television when you lost that bet on that wrestling match to Casey."

"Oh yeah, darn it, I owe him 20 bucks!"

"Little sibs never cease to amaze."

"Whatever," Raph said while rolling his eyes before glancing around, "Why are you down here anyways?"

The rare, free, joking expression fell off of Leo's face and one of a wounded soul replaced it.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

Leo breathed a sigh of relief, "I'm going to take a wild guess and say that you probably followed me to ask me the same questions you would've asked me when I got home."

"You got that right, now to start-"

"No."

"WHAT! WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO?"

Leo _almost _smiled again before shaking his head, "Not here, follow me."

Raph sighed, his blue banded brother had to be the most confusing thing in his life. He could understand the knucklehead that Mikey was easier than he could understand his older brother. The hothead was beginning to believe that Leo made himself more complicated just to make him angrier. Nevertheless, Raph fell into place where he had always been trained to, right by Leo's side.

It was only a short 63 seconds later, Raph had timed it out of boredom, that they reached a small, side tunnel.

"What's in there?" Raph asked.

"A secret," Leo whispered, his voice appearing to slant downward and to the side as if it were tangible.

"What secret? And what the shell is wrong with you, you've always acted like this on the same day every year, for the past five years. Don't get me wrong I like that you let us practically get away with murder and you can't seem to lecture on this day, but what makes you act like this?"

"My past," Leo said after a deep breath.

"Your past? Shouldn't that be our past? We've lived together for 15 years! What could've happened to make you-"

Raph's question was cut off when Leo whipped around rapidly and stared strait at him. The red banded turtle stepped forward when he noticed a haunted look in the eldest's eyes. He knew that look, Leo always had _that _look when he made a _decision, _the kind of decision that meant something deep and important. Leo then motioned to the small side tunnel and slipped inside, Raph following a second behind. They walked for about 20 seconds of unbearable silence before Raphael caught the sight of a tattered curtain hanging from a bar at the top of the rounded tunnel that had been somehow jammed into the upper side bricks. Leo swept the curtain aside, stepped forward and then the curtain fluttered back to it's starting position, blocking Raph's view.

Suddenly, more lights appeared behind the curtain. Raph swept it aside and stared ahead where Leo was knelling before a small overhang of concrete. Beneath this overhang sat three stones and a fresh burning candle sat beside each of them.

"Leo?" he asked the kneeling turtle suspiciously, "What is this?"

"You wanted to know about today didn't you? Also about my memories?"

"Well yeah, but what's with this stuff?" Raph said, motioning to the gray, carefully placed and spaced out stones, "Why is all this here?"

"It's a memorial."

"Why today? For who?"

"Today because it was today, years ago that they died."

"WHO?"

Leo looked back at him, a certain shine to his eyes and spoke quickly.

"My Brothers. This is the day that my brothers died."

TBC….

* * *

Yeah, so many people actually got the answer right for why it was a sorrowful day for Leo, but missed guessing that the others considered it the best day of the year because Leo let them get away with any and everything they wanted and because it was impossible for Leo to lecture them.

Anyways, the next chapter we'll be seeing Leo's memories and the ultimate end to the story. That's right, only one chapter is left. Please review, the more reviews I get the sooner I update with that last chapter.

~Moonsetta


	6. Chapter 6

Hey everyone, time for the final installment of One and Three!

Wow, and to everyone who does and doesn't know, this story and _Old and Young _were inspired by Ironi Numair's one-shot, _Eldest. _

It's good! Go read it! And review it! It's awesome!

Anyways, I'm borrowing a weak internet connection from one of my neighbors since my internet has already been disconnected for my move.

* * *

"WHAT!" Raph shouted, stumbling backwards and just catching himself on the curtain before he fell down on to the cement floor.

Leo smiled sadly and turned back to him before sitting cross legged in front of the stones. The eldest held out his hand with a kind of regretful look overcoming his face.

"I had a feeling you'd be the one to figure it out. You messed up my entire plan when you came home early."

Raph looked at the offered three fingered hand for a moment, like he wasn't entirely sure what it was, as if it had been transformed from when he had previously set eyes on it.

"Come on, want to know my memories?" Leo asked.

The funny thing was, Raph didn't even remember taking the hand, didn't remember ever sitting down, he didn't even remember anything after he took a cautious glance up at his brother's eyes. After that there was a bright, white, light and it was so intense, as if it were a laser burning his eyes. Weird, _their _memories hadn't started off like this.

_

* * *

_

Raph found himself, once the blinding light had cleared, standing in the laboratory he recalled from his own memories. Only, a few things were different, a few tables he recognized by their various chemical and possibly coffee stains were on the opposite side of the room, a few computers seemed a bit older than he recalled and a few of the people seemed different as well. There were no bright and clear distinguishing marks on the scientists though a few did seem different than he remembered. One thing on the other side of the room did strike him as familiar though. Their nest.

_Raph almost made his way over to it before a hand on his shoulder made him spin around quickly, expecting danger. When he met his blue masked brother's gaze he breathed a sigh of relief. He tried to speak but a sign from Leo made him snap his beak shut. The blue clad turtle shook his head, but still didn't say anything. Then, he looked around cautiously, as if something or someone was watching them before he pointed to an opening doorway._

_Two scientists were wheeling in a large incubator. They pushed it into the center of the room before a man wearing a construction helmet entered the room behind them and bent down to lift a panel on the side of the incubator. After taking a good look at the blinking lights and wires inside he opened a panel on the floor, connecting two large tube like chords to the empty sockets in the opened panel._

"_Well, your power supply is working quite well," the man said before tipping his hat at one of the scientists before making his way across the room where a red tool box lay on the ground._

_Leonardo looked away from the construction worker and then turned to find that Raph was gone! He panicked for a minute until he spotted his younger brother looking down into the incubator the men had just wheeled in. Leo smiled and walked up beside him, glancing down and spotting three figures that made his emotions act as if they were warring with one another inside his mind._

_Raphael on the other hand, turned his gaze from the three turtles in the incubator to his older brother beside him._

_Baby turtle with olive green skin-nope_

_Baby turtle with blue-green skin-no match_

_Baby turtle with sage green skin-no_

_Raph finally caught his older brother's eye and raised an imaginary eyebrow of confusion._

"_Bro, if this is your family, then where are you?" the red banded turtle thought._

_Leo smiled, the smile itself was half amused and half sad. He ran his hand along the glass of the incubator, although he could easily faze through it if needed, and then he pointed strait down to a mound of sand. _

_The imaginary confused eyebrow raised again._

_Just watch. Leo thought, once again directing Raphael's eyes downward. The mound of sand was beginning to shake, like it was a miniature volcano getting ready to erupt._

_But what came out of the sand was not the red hot, fire dotted lava that covered the earth when such a mountainous thing exploded. What revealed itself in a matter of seconds was a very tiny turtle egg and what broke its way through was a tiny, innocent, leaf green skinned turtle._

_Raph looked to Leo in shock, asking by his eyes, "You?"_

_The blue clad turtle nodded and watched as his younger brother turned back towards the scene. The tiny turtle was standing up and glancing around questioningly at the others around him. Then, before either Raph or Leo could move, the scene around them faded, their environment then turned a pale white before similar images began to fade back into their sight. They found themselves in the same lab as before, but a quick glance at the updated technology around them revealed that some time had passed since the last scene._

_Raph looked back and forth between all the scientists running around before turning to Leo again with the question of, "What happens now?" hidden in his eyes._

_Leo pointed to one of the glowing doorways and frowned as a large cart was rolled in. Finding that they were still standing by the incubator, Raph looked down inside it and smiled at the sight of the four brothers curled up together although there was a stab of something akin to betrayal. After all, this was _his _brother, or at least, the guy he had known as his brother for 15 years and seeing him, even in his infant turtle form, curled up into a mass of other turtles stung something under his skin like that irritating itch on your back you can just, never reach. _

"_Alright, they've undergone their physical," a woman said, approaching the incubator and staring down at the little turtles inside._

_The young teenager that was rolling in the cart picked up a small cardboard box from the cart and walked over to the incubator as the lights were turned out, the little turtles' heat source suddenly vanished and Raphael noticed one of them shivering slight from within, if a cold-blooded animal could really shiver. _

_He assumed it was possible after all, they shivered and they were cold-blooded. He watched with feelings of confusion as the woman scientist lifted the baby turtles out of the incubator and placed them in the cardboard box the teenager held open for her._

"_I hope Gorge likes the new auditions to his little pet shop," the woman said with a soft smile at the teen in front of her._

_The said teenager half returned the smile and then spoke slowly, "Yeah, it's the first time Grandpa's letting reptiles into the store."_

"_Well, there'll be another batch soon," the woman said, motioning to a second incubator on the opposite side of the room._

_With that final motion, Leo grabbed Raph's arm and pulled him to the other incubator where both of them spotted three eggs laying in the center of the nest. Raph glanced back at the teenager as he carried the box towards the cart and then at the three eggs in the incubator before him. He decided that the three eggs in the incubator were him and his younger brothers' eggs, but how did Leo get here if he was over there?_

_How? _

_Suddenly, the hotheaded turtle felt his stomach drop. Something, something must have happened. That's when Leo turned him around and made him look as the teenager walked forward towards the cart and motioned to the hanging cable before him._

_Raph wanted to shout out, "Hey Idiot! Watch out!"_

_But somehow, it was physically impossible to do more than move your lips in this place. No wonder Leo hadn't said anything to him yet._

_Leo's shoulders sagged and he closed his eyes as the door opened and another scientist wheeled in a large rolling shelf full of beakers and bottles of different chemicals. One with a shelf in front of him, unable to see, another with a box in front of his face. So it was only expected and not wished for when they collided. _

_The red banded turtle couldn't explain what happened next. There were crashes of metal and glass hitting and shattering on the tiled floor. The thud of the cardboard box was then followed by the almost silent clacking of four tiny shells against the floor. The scientists in the room rushed to their friend and Raph went to join them, forgetting for a moment that he had no influence in the realm of a memory. _

_A hand enclosed over Raph's and pulled him back. He glanced back only to see Leo shake his head sadly. Then he reached towards the incubator beside them and pushed his hand through the glass. It spoke the reprimand to Raphael, 'you can't do anything'. Growing angry, Raph tore his hand away and rushed over to the pile of debris, he had to know what happened…_

…

…

…

_After seeing this memory and a hatching, this was the ABSOLUTE last thing he wanted to see._

_The four baby turtles were spread out among the chemicals and broken glass on the floor. None were moving. The logical fact that Leo was still there so he couldn't have perished here in this accident, totally flew out of his mind. The sage skinned baby turtle was curled up in his shell, but wasn't moving. The blue-green skinned turtle was laying on his plastron, eyes shut and blood along his mouth. The final, olive green skinned turtle was on his side, a crack running down the center of his shell. Then his eyes flew to the youngest turtle, his older brother, he didn't like that he couldn't take a moment to stand amused at the irony of that sentence. His eyes focused intently as he knelt by and tried to reach out for the little turtle but his hand phased through, soon his grasp grew desperate. His protective nature just wouldn't allow anyone or anything to hurt his family, and this was the worst torture of all, seeing it happen and being unable to do anything about it._

_He wanted to yell at the scientists to stop worrying about that other scientist and teenager that had been in the accident and start worrying about the injured baby turtle. So he jumped when a hand landed on his shoulder, then he relaxed when he recognized the touch of his older brother._

_Then, they were surrounded by white lab coats. _

"_No good, this one has a broken spine."_

"_Internal heart implosion, he must of hit the ground plastron first."_

"_Impaled lungs."_

_There was a silence as Leo dragged Raph away from the group._

"_Wait! One's still alive!" _

_There was a great rush as the woman that had handled the turtles before sprinted across the room, holding the smallest and youngest turtle in her hands. She ran to the other incubator and quickly placed him inside. Raph's eyes widened. That's what had happened!_

_Then the room began fading and-_

The turtles returned to reality, finding themselves sitting across from one another in the sewer tunnel. The miniscule stones still sat there, silent as gravestone ghosts.

When Raph finally gathered words in his head he looked up and found Leo's eyes shining, they were slightly moist.

The red banded turtle wasn't one to give sentimental comfort, so he said what he deemed was one of the most stupidest things he could ever say.

"You know, if it had been you and your brothers that mutated," Raph said slowly then paused for effectiveness until Leo looked up at him.

Raph lowered his eyes and smirked, "You would've been Mikey."

It was a tense few seconds before the eyes that once alluded tears, drifted out of the eyes slowly while his chest rumbled, not from sorrowful cries, but from a small yet very significant short stream of laughter. One could be forgiven for thinking it was nothing but a short, sharp chuckle, but there was something in the atmosphere and in Leo's smile that told Raphael that Leo was truly laughing.

THE END!

* * *

YAY! Now I only have two stories to finish!

It's Not OK

And

A New Start

I'll probably be finishing A New Start before I post the next chapter of It's Not OK though so look out for it!

I hope you enjoyed this story! Review if you want, but I'm just happy enough to have finished this. ^_^

~Moonsetta


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